More Than 122,000 Drug Dealers Arrested in One Year: Home Min

In 2021, 93 thousand 190 cases were filed and 1 lakh 22 thousand 152 illegal drug dealers were arrested and brought under the law, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

This information was given by the Home Minister in response to a written question by Jatiya Party's Mujibul Haque Chunnu in Parliament on Sunday (October 30). Before this, the question and answer session was raised on the table after the start of the session of the Parliament under the chairmanship of Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.

The Home Minister said that the Prime Minister has announced zero tolerance against drugs. All law enforcement agencies are working tirelessly to implement the Prime Minister's announcement of zero tolerance against drugs.

Accordingly, the government has taken multifaceted measures to stop drug smuggling. In 2021, 93 thousand 190 cases were filed and 1 lakh 22 thousand 152 illegal drug dealers were arrested and brought under the law.

The Home Minister said that till August 2022, 66 thousand 554 cases have been filed and 83 thousand 123 illegal drug dealers have been arrested and brought under the law.

The 'Narcotics Control Act, 2018 (Amended, 2020)' has been enacted to curb drug peddlers. The law provides for the death penalty as the maximum penalty for drug offenses.

According to section 63 of the Narcotic Drugs Control Act, 2018 (Amended, 2020), 4 committees have been constituted: (1) National Narcotics Control Advisory Committee, (2) National Anti-Narcotics Committee (3) District Narcotics Control and Promotion Committee, (4) Upazila Narcotics. Control and Promotion Committee.

Committees take very important decisions by convening meetings and conducting anti-narcotics activities according to the decisions taken.

The Home Minister said that a special zone with 29 manpower has been formed in Teknaf to stop the flow of Yaba, a widely abused drug. Drugs are smuggled into our country from neighboring countries. For this reason, 7 bilateral meetings have been held with India and 5 with Myanmar so far to prevent the flow of drugs.